Murrieta council to take up foreign travel

MURRIETA  Two Murrieta councilmen have been invited to visit China this year by separate groups, which has prompted the council to plan a discussion on the city's foreign travel policy at Tuesday night's meeting.

Mayor Rick Gibbs and Councilman Randon Lane each have been invited to travel to China this year to discuss trade. Gibbs, who has previously represented the city of Murrieta on trips to China in 2011 and 2012, also serves as the chairman of the California Inland Empire District Export Council.

"This is really about fostering international relationships between the United States and the rest of the world," Gibbs said, "for the purpose of bringing investment to Murrieta and creating jobs."

Gibbs said the council will be discussing a policy for selecting appropriate council members or staff members for international travel, and for assessing the value to the city of these trips.

"While goodwill is important, goodwill is the kind of trip you take once. Then when it's a follow-up trip, then it has to be for a specific purpose. And our litmus test is, 'Is this going to help us create jobs for Murrieta."

State gift laws prohibit certain city representatives -- including council members, city managers and city treasurers or finance directors -- from accepting travel paid by private parties.

Murrieta Economic Development Director Bruce Coleman, whose position is exempt from those restrictions, went to China as part of a trade mission last summer.

"In a lot of cases, foreign investors want to know more about Murrieta," Coleman said. "They want to know if this is a good place to invest, and they generally don't know the community. They may not know cities outside of the major gateway cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York and Washington. .. So the city of Murrieta has to work doubly hard to encourage investors to look beyond traditional U.S. gateway cities."

Gibbs said that in the past the city has picked up the bill for some of his expenses, and he has paid for others out of his own pocket. Chinese government agencies also picked up the bill for some of his travel expenses, he said.

Lane has been invited by the Continental East Regional Center on an EB5 mission, according to the city. The EB5 program offers foreign developers the opportunity to earn green cards if they invest in the U.S.

The city said that Gibbs' invitation came from the Shanghai Development Corporation.

Coleman said there are a couple of developers in Murrieta that came from the EB5 program: Continental East and American Redevelopment Solutions.

"These are private deals," Coleman said. "The city goes in and works to encourage these connections. That's what we do as a city government."

The purpose of overseas trips is to stimulate exports and encourage foreign investment, Gibbs said.

"A great deal of the world's middle class, and the growing middle class, is located in countries outside the United States," Gibbs said. "The middle class often has tremendous purchasing power. So that's an opportunity for Murrieta companies to grow in Murrieta, in this area, by expanding their exports."